How-to: duck tail on a turbo
11-22-2003, 05:14 PM
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Racer
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How-to: duck tail on a turbo
There has been some interest expressed in my ducktail Turbo so here's a little how-to. First let me say that my 78 Turbo (with 18,000 total miles on body/engine) is far from stock, however the intercooler is stock and is mounted in the stock location. If you have a larger intercooler, then the duck tail conversion will not work for you. The problem here is the thickness of the intercooler.
I bolted the unpainted tail on to my car and realized I did not need two struts to hold up the much lighter (maybe 25/30 lbs) lid. With the lid down it will rest on the intercooler.
I found that I needed to remove the rubber gasket and support bracket on top of the intercooler (if memory serves, I had to grind a little bit on the brackets to remove them) and then had to cut away a small part of the inner flange on the ducktail (see pix). Use caution when cutting the flange, you DO NOT need to cut through the top surface of the fiberglass, only through the flange itself. This allowed the lid to sit in the proper place completely aligned with the body.
Once the tail was sitting in the proper place, I realized that much of the cooler matrix was now covered. At that point, I drew a trapezoid? shape on the outside gelcote that duplicated the actual matrix of the (stock) intercooler core and carefully cut and finished the fiberglass. This was to suite my own taste (asymmetrical) and you could of course cut any shape you desire.
The screen is cut oversize and is glued on from the inside with high temp RTV. The screen is from McMaster-Carr 562.692-5911 and is made of aluminum .047 wire with a 4x4 mesh per inch (part # 9227t404). Cost is $6.40 for a 12" x 12" sheet. I painted the screen with Satin Black Krylon spray paint to approximate the trim on the rest of the car.
As you can see in the photo of the intercooler, there are areas (shiney spots) where the lid does rub on the aluminum end tank, and I will soon glue some .060 rubber to that surface.
I do not use the hood latch (even though the bottom half is still installed) because I have found that fan suction and aerodynamics keep the lid firmly planted. It's possible that the addition of a latch would raise the lid enough to eliminate intercooler contact.
Cheers to all, Paul
I bolted the unpainted tail on to my car and realized I did not need two struts to hold up the much lighter (maybe 25/30 lbs) lid. With the lid down it will rest on the intercooler.
I found that I needed to remove the rubber gasket and support bracket on top of the intercooler (if memory serves, I had to grind a little bit on the brackets to remove them) and then had to cut away a small part of the inner flange on the ducktail (see pix). Use caution when cutting the flange, you DO NOT need to cut through the top surface of the fiberglass, only through the flange itself. This allowed the lid to sit in the proper place completely aligned with the body.
Once the tail was sitting in the proper place, I realized that much of the cooler matrix was now covered. At that point, I drew a trapezoid? shape on the outside gelcote that duplicated the actual matrix of the (stock) intercooler core and carefully cut and finished the fiberglass. This was to suite my own taste (asymmetrical) and you could of course cut any shape you desire.
The screen is cut oversize and is glued on from the inside with high temp RTV. The screen is from McMaster-Carr 562.692-5911 and is made of aluminum .047 wire with a 4x4 mesh per inch (part # 9227t404). Cost is $6.40 for a 12" x 12" sheet. I painted the screen with Satin Black Krylon spray paint to approximate the trim on the rest of the car.
As you can see in the photo of the intercooler, there are areas (shiney spots) where the lid does rub on the aluminum end tank, and I will soon glue some .060 rubber to that surface.
I do not use the hood latch (even though the bottom half is still installed) because I have found that fan suction and aerodynamics keep the lid firmly planted. It's possible that the addition of a latch would raise the lid enough to eliminate intercooler contact.
Cheers to all, Paul
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I see you're twin plugged, what is your ignition set-up? Mike
11-23-2003, 02:00 AM
#10
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: So. CA 1994 3.6t
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p.vanderlinden,
I absolutely luv your car. We met at the concorso earlier this year. (I had the black 3.6 turbo.) Can't wait to see it again! The Misfits plate is perfect on that car.
We are 138...
I absolutely luv your car. We met at the concorso earlier this year. (I had the black 3.6 turbo.) Can't wait to see it again! The Misfits plate is perfect on that car.
We are 138...
